5 Fun Work-Friendly Games to Play

From time to time, even the hardest-working individual on the planet needs to unplug from work and relax.

While managers might have immediately dismissed the idea of allowing workers to play games at the workplace decades ago, that’s no longer the case for many newer companies. You probably shouldn’t play Cards Against Humanity at work. But if you’re looking for something a little more work-appropriate, here are five suggestions:

01. Mario Kart

If you’ve got a Nintendo console, chances are you have the corresponding Mario Kart game. Whether you want to race against one colleague or a bunch of them, Mario Kart has you covered (depending, of course, on the specific version you’re playing).

As an added bonus, you can launch turtle shells and banana peels at your opponents, and you can also shrink them with a lightning bolt. If one of your coworkers is annoying you, take it out on the race track. The game is fairly intuitive, so even Mario Kart newbies should be able to pick it up in a brief amount of time.

02. Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is a comparison card game. Here’s how it works: Everyone is dealt seven red cards, which usually contain a noun on them. The dealer (or judge) then flips over a green card, which usually contains an adjective on it. Players then choose which of their cards best matches the green card and submit their option face-down to the dealer. The dealer chooses which red card they believe matches best, and the player who played it is awarded the green card. The dealer then passes the deck of green cards to the person to their left. A player wins when they earn enough green cards.

The game generally becomes quite hilarious as judges and players explain the reasoning behind their answers.

03. Quiplash

It’s safe to say that everyone at your company has access to some sort of mobile device. Whether that’s their own smartphone or a company-issued tablet will depend on your particular organization.

Do you know who the cleverest member of your team is? You know, the person who’s able to come up with the wittiest answers to the most bizarre prompts? If not, it may be time for you to give Quiplash a try.

Here’s how it works: The game can be played by anywhere from three to eight people, who each need to have their own device. Random prompts will come up (e.g., What’s a better name for France?), and employees will do their best to answer them. An audience of up to 10,000 people then votes on which answer they like best. Simple enough.

04. Drawful

Who’s the best artist on your team? Do you even know? From the makers of Quiplash comes Drawful (and now Drawful 2). The game is similar to Quiplash in the sense that players use their mobile devices to receive prompts. But the prompts ask them to draw ridiculous things.

Like Quiplash, the game can be played by three to eight individuals, and the voting is the same. If your organization errs on the formal side, there’s a setting that makes the game more family-friendly, reducing the likelihood someone will end up drawing something that makes people uncomfortable.

05. Trivial Pursuit

What list would be complete without this classic? There are a zillion versions of Trivial Pursuit, so pick whichever one you like best and store it at the office. Maybe at the end of a long week your team can spend an hour or two reaching into the abysses of their knowledge of trivia to see who knows the most facts. Who knows? After a few rounds, your team might have no choice but to become regulars at a nearby bar’s trivia night.